Apparatus for treating hydrocarbons



May-15, 1928. 1 1,670,105 G..EGLOFF ET AL APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS Original Filed Aug- 21. 1'592o 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 15, 1928.

' G. EGLOFF ET AL wmwa APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS Original Filed Aug. 21. 1920 2 She'ets$heet 2 kmss,

Patented a 15, 1928.

UNITED sures I 1,670,105 PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV EGLOFI AND HARRY P. BENNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOBS TO UNIVERSAL OIL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0] SOUTH DAKOTA.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING- EYDROCARBONS.

Application filed August 21, 1920, Serial No- 405,101. Renewed February 12, 1927.

This invent-ion relates to improvementsin apparatus for treating hydro-carbon oils, and among its salient objects is to provide an improved apparatus which gives a maximum heating area in relationship to the amount of oil treated at any given time; to provide an apparatus in which the oil vapors can be superheated, and if deslred, again subjected to additional heating; to provide an apparatus which is part1cularly economical in construction and maintenance; and in general to provide improvements hereinafter set forth in claims.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our improved apparatus shown partly in section. Fig. 2 is an end view of the'same with'the end of the furnace broken away.

In the drawings: 1 represents a furnace having burners, 2, and stack, 3. 4 and 5 represent superimposed stills, connected by piping, 6. Still, 7, is connected to still 5, with connections, 13, and still, 7, is connected in turn with still, 8, by connection 13, as shown in Fig. 2. A still, 10, is connected to still, 8, with piping, 11,- and in turn is connected to still, 4, with pipe connections, 12. The vapors from still, 7, pass by means of pipe connections, 14, with control valve, 15, set therein and connected by means of pipe, 16, to dephlegmator, 17, having bafiiing material, 18. From the top of dephlegmator, 17, pipe connection, 19, having a control valve, 20, connected with piping, 21, is connected with condenser coil, 22, set within water condenser box, 23, leading to receiver, 24, by pipe, 25. A drawofl pressure distillate control valve, 26, is attached to receiver, 24, by means of pipe, 27. The pressure distillate formed passes through control valve, 26, by 'means of pipe, 28, to a storage tank (not shown). Receiver, 24, is provided with liquid level gauge, 29, and pressure gauge, .30. Control valve, 31, is connected to receiver, 24, by means of pipe, 32. 33 represents oil charging pump, connected with a source of supply (not shown). The pressure stills are charged by means of pump, 33, having a discharge connection, 34, controlled by valve, 35, and piping, 36, connected to still, 7. Pipe connections, 37, having valves, 38, are liquid drawofis from stills, 4, 5, 7 (and 8 and 10, not shown). The generated vapors from still, 7, pass through pipe, 14, control valve, 15, and connection 16 to dephlegmacycle.

tor, 17. The reflux condensate passes by means of pipe, 39, having control valve, 40, into still, 4.

A typical mode of operation of this apparatus is to charge the pressure stills-by means of pump, 33, having discharge connections, 34, 35 and 36, discharging the oil from said pump, 33, into still, 7, until the high pressure stills are charged to the level desired. Witlrsome oils it is desirable to charge to the full capacity of stills, 4, 10, 5 and 8, and 50 per cent of still, 7. This is highly desirable when we are treating oils which are easily cracked under pressure, such as wax distillate or waxy oils. When we are treating gas oils ofthe character of Pine Island, some Mexican oils, steam still bottoms 'or pressure distillate bottoms, we have found that the generated vapors should be subjected to a large superheating area which will crack them in commercial percentages and quantities during an operating Such oils as just mentioned are ex-. ceedingly diflicult oils to crack commercially and we have found that by utilizing stills, 5, 7 and 8, as superheating chambers and only charging stills, 4 and 10, with said difiicult oils, that we are able to handle these oils in a profitable manner. The process and apparatus lends itself to a .high degree of flexibility in the handling of widely diversified hydrocarbon oils. After the pressure stills are .charged with raw oil to be treated, the preferable manner of operation is to close the uncondensable. gas control valve, 31, pressure distillate drawofl valve, 26, while valves, 15, 20 and 40, are wide open. The furnace fires are lighted, the products of combustion pass around the high pressure stills, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10, and a self-generated hydrocarbon vapor pressure results over the entire system and the products of vaporiza- V tion pass through dephlegmator, 17, coming in contact with bafiiing members, 18, via piping, 14 and 16, and valve, 15. The reflux condensate flows back by means of piping, 39, thro h valve, 40, into the lower part of still, 4. he reflux condensateis recycled through the cracking zones. The uncondensed vapors which pass out of the top of dephlegmator, 17, through pipes, 19 and 21, having valve, 20, inserted therein, continue on and are condensed in condenser coil, 22, falling into receiver, 24, via pipe, 25.

- The condensed pressure distillate passes to a run-down tank through pipe 28 controlled by valve 26. The uncondensable gases are controlled by means of valve, 31, as is also the pressure uponthe system.

It may be desirable with'heavy oils of the character of residuums, fuel oil or crude oil, such as heavy Texas oils, Allen County, Kansas, or Iola crudes, to control pressure distillation by means of valve, 15, and cutting out the dephlegmator, 17, by closing valve, 20, and bypassing the vapors by closing valve, 40, and opening valve, 41, which leads to a condenser coil and receiver (not shown). This latter mode of operation makes the dephlegmator part of the system a dead end.

We have found that heavy oils require considerably less dephlegmating area than gas oils, or the like.

We may, if it is found desirable, pressure distill and control the rate of distillation by means for heating the furnace to a cracking temperature, of a first pair of horizontal stills mounted in the lower part of the furnace, a second air of horizontal stills mounted in the urnace and superimposed above said first pair, a single horizontal still in said furnace superimposed above and positioned between the stills of said second pair, means for delivering oil to said first pair of stills to substantially fill the same without filling the other stills, means connecting the first pair of stills with the superimposed stills whereby vapors from said first pair pass through and are superheated in said superimposed stills, a dephlegmator, connections from the single still to said dephlegmator, means for discharging uncondensed vapors from the dephlegmator, and means for returning reflux condensate from said dephlegmator to one of said first pair of stills. 4 2. In an apparatus for cracking petroleum oil, the combination with a furnace, of means for heating the furnace to a cracking temperature, of a first pair of chambers mounted in the lower part of the furnace, a second pair of chambers mountedin the fur- .nace and superimposed above said first pair,

in said superimposed chambers, a dephlegmator, connections from the single chamber to said dephlegmator, means for discharging uncondensed vapors from the dephlegmator, and means for returning reflux condensate' from said dephlegmator to one of said first pair of chambers.

3. An apparatus for cracking petroleum oil comprising a heating zone, a plurality of communicating, vertically disposed oil containers disposed within said heating zone, dephlegmating means, means for conveying vapors evolved from oil in said plurality of containers to said dephlegmating means, means for introducing fresh charging oil into the uppermost one of said containers, and means for returning reflux condensate separated from the vapors in said de hlegmating means to a lower one of 'sai containers. c 1

4 An apparatus for cracking oil comprisingmeansfor maintaining the oil undergoing treatment under cracking conditions of temperature and pressure'in a plurality of successive communicatin zones, the heavy oil accumulating in the last of said successive zones, a dephlegmator, means for conveying all the-vapors from said zones to said dephlegmator, means for returning an the reflux condensate separated from the vapors to said last zone to be mixed with the heat to said successive zones and means for,

unvaporlzed 011 from said succesremoving sive zones.

GUSTAV EenoFF.

- HARRY r. BENNER. 

